Following the Crossroads of Destiny
by Digidestined of Trust
Summary: In cooperation with Following the Footsteps of Destiny. As the Digidestined and their kids are fighting, Tim is making sure that the Spirit Chips are found safely and the Tamers, now also with kids are making sure things are peaceful in the Real World.


A/N: Howdy all! (No I'm not a cowboy, lol) If you've read and have been following Broken Angel01's "Following the Footsteps of Destiny" Digimon fic, you'll also know that she's been having a rough time lately, so I told her I'd help her out. She hasn't told me what more she has planned for the coming chapters other than I know that the battle for the next spirit chip is very soon. First off I thought I'd tell you that since I've loved this fic so much, it's going to be canon to my Digital and Dino-Thunder Power Rangers Series and also with the Create Card's "Digimon the College Years". So Tamers will also be introduced into the occasion slightly. For anyone that's read my fics, you'll know that I tend to include my own character (really a rendition of myself) into my fics, and so I'm kind of like the silent helper with the Digidestined. If you don't understand the whole Megaligo thing, it's the Power Ranger Powers that I made up and will be writing that as a series in the coming future, "Power Rangers MEGALIGO" As you can see, I'm the Digidestined of Trust (aka: Tim) and a digidestined since 99'. I'm slightly older than T.K. and Kari by about 2 years, but also a part of the 02 Digidestined with a D-3 digivice.

(The Previous Day on File Island)

_Tim_

_ File Island, Digital World_

Tim and Strongomon were hovering above File Island watching the battle ensue.

"I'm getting tired of waiting Tim! Why aren't we battling yet?"

"Patience Strongomon, as long as Tai and the others are able to hold them off, we can't do anything just yet." He assured the Mega Digimon, but something else was on his mind, '_Where in the world is DarkAngelicmon? I haven't seen him since he helped Tai and his group up the mountain." _He looked closer towards the mountain and it seemed that after Spritemon had been shot down, she had disappeared, _'Ugh, that Mega Digimon is missing as well! Not good.'_

Tim had been the only one of the Digidestined that had been allowed to keep coming to the Digital World before Daichi, Kara and the others had been recruited by Piximon. He couldn't figure out why though. Perhaps it was because he had told his kids about the Digital World and that he, his wife and kids had kept coming back for picnics, though for Tim, it was his mission to make sure that the Digital World was kept safe. He then started thinking back to years ago in his first visit to the Digital World. He, Sarah, Ryo and Ken had all been fighting the Ruler of Darkness, and that's when they met Angelicmon. He was there to help them understand their positions as to why they were in the Digital World, and how their lives would change a lot. Sure everyone's does, but this was much more different than usual. Tim figured Ken probably didn't remember who DarkAngelicmon was, and had briefly talked with Ryo about it at Odaiba University, but it never came up again. He also figured Sarah remembered, but neither of them ever brought it up. Really, it was because that subject was so dark, it still scared them...

(Flashback)

The Ruler of Darkness was trying to force his way back into the Digital world from the Dark World, but Angelicmon was blocking the way. Unfortunately, that made him vulnerable to the Ruler of Darkness's attacks, who began poisoning him with his darkness, "Now! Come back to me once again DarkAngelicmon! You WILL NOW serve me forever!"

"N..no! Angelicmon!" the young Timmy screamed.

"What's happening to you?" a frightened Sarah asked.

Angelicmon was getting darker and darker, and he couldn't control the evil spreading through his body, "You...You must close the gate! It's the only way to stop the Ruler of Darkness from coming through! I'm...sorry for keeping my past a secret! Hopefully, one day, you'll find out what it is!"

A young Ken was crying, "No! Please, don't go!"

"I'm sorry young one, I am sure, that one day, we will meet again. Remember your Kindness young Ichijouji, don't let hatred take you over. Wormon, take care of him, no matter what happens."

"I will Angelicmon, you can count on me! I will stay by his side."

"Ryo! We've gotsh to do shomething now!"

Ryo sighed, "I know Veemon, but what?" He looked down at his digivice, "Hmm... that should do it! You guys, use your digivices to seal them away. Digimon attack when I give the ready!"

They all nodded and all their digimon digivolved to their highest forms, Veemon to AeroVeedramon, Arnamon to MetalStrongomon, Lalamon to Lilamon and Wormon to Stingmon.

A pained, now DarkAngelicmon screamed, "DO IT! NOW!"

MAGNUM CRASHER!

METAL SLAMMER!

LILA SHOWER!

SPIKING STRIKE!

Immediately, the energy from the attacks surrounded the portal causing it to explode.

Ryo knew what to do next, aiming his digivice towards the exploding portal, the others following suit.

"I WILL BE BACK DIGI-DESTINED! YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!" The Dark Lord roared.

"Thank you...my friends, I'm...so...sorry" Was all DarkAngelicmon could utter, before falling into unconsciousness.

(Back to the Battle)

Tim's thoughts were suddenly shattered as he heard his partner's growling voice, "TIM! Trouble!"

He looked up, "Spritemon!"

She didn't look pleased at all to see the Bearer of Trust, "YOU!"

Tim placed a hand on his Megaligo Morpher, "What do you want Spritemon?"

"I don't have time for the likes of you right now!" And with that she took off.

As soon as she was out of range, "WarStrongomon, let's follow her! We have to see what they're up to so we can protect the others. There's no doubt our friends will be back tomorrow to find the Spirit Chip of Compassion." Tim took the Black Dino-Gem that Tommy gave to him to hold on to, and placed it in his morpher, "Dino-Cloak!" He and WarStrongomon were completely shrouded in a cloak and followed Spritemon back to Text.

With that, his thoughts drifted back to almost 14 years ago when T.K. and Kari had gotten married.

(Flashback)

(Zordon's Command Center)

Tai raised a glass of champaign, "To my wonderful sister and her loyal husband!"

"To T.K. and Kari!" Davis finished.

The Digidestined and Tamers all cheered, "To T.K. and Kari!"

The group all drank immediately, except for Tim, who fiddled with the glass before finally taking a sip.

Sora approached the two, "It's finally happened, I'm so proud of you two."

T.K. smiled, "We couldn't have done it without you all, especially you Davis!"

Everyone laughed as Davis blushed furiously, "Whatever!" he blurted.

Veemon nudged him, "I don't think you meant to say that bud." Davis just scowled back at him.

Noriko wrapped her arms around his shoulders, "Aww, Davis honey, cheer up."

"Yeah Davis," Rika jokingly jeered, "You don't want to ruin everyone else's evening." Ryo knew this was a joke and had to try hard not to laugh.

"Davis," Patamon chirped behind him, "I think it's time."

All of the girls looked clueless, even Rika had no clue what was up and normally she was one step ahead of them all.

"Huh, oh yeah, right."

Calumon was a bit too excited, "OHH BOYYYY! OH BOY OH BOY OH BOYYYY!"

Takato sweatdropped, "He's going to give it away," he whispered to Henry who just grinned.

"I just wanted everyone to know, that I officially have my business degree and have started on the paperwork to run a business."

The guys knew this wasn't the only thing, but Rika was not too pleased, "THAT'S, What you wanted to tell us?" She screamed in frustration.

Ryo tried to hold her back, "Rika! Just calm down!"

Gatomon was scratching her head, "That can't be the only thing."

Davis continued, "Yes, and Gatomon's right," he turned to face Noriko, at the same time giving Impmon the secret signal, who was holding one piece of cake on a plate in one hand, and in the other, well it was behind his back, but no one noticed. Impmon slipped a small black box into his hand secretly. Calumon by this time was beyond excited and was running around the Command Center like crazy before finally settling on Davis's head to get front row action.

Even Alpha V, who also knew, couldn't contain himself, "Aiyiyi, this is so exhilarating," he tried to say quietly.

Yolie, who had been rattling her brains for an answer, finally realized what was going on, "Oh, that sneak!" she told Kari and Sora trying to clue them in. Mimi had also begun to figure it out and began seemingly hyperventilating, "Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!"

The rest of the ladies couldn't figure out what was going on, not even Kimberly or Katherine, two pink rangers nonetheless.

Davis after a half a minute of gathering himself, got down on one knee in front of Noriko, making Rika's countenance do a complete 180, opposite from just a minute before, "Why that little!" She growled, but was interrupted by Renamon, "Rika!" the fox digimon scolded.

"Noriko Kamari, will you marry me?"

Calumon coouldn't contain himself, "SAY YES! SAY YES, SAY YES!"

Jeri giggled as she stepping away from Takato for a second, to take Calumon away, "Calm down Calumon." She said as she re-joined Takato at his side.

Takato grinned, "Yeah, you'll ruin the moment." he added, wrapping his arm around his fiance's waist.

Everyone laughed and then turned back to Davis and a still stunned Noriko, "I...well, Davis, it's just...wow..."

Davis gulped, "Noriko? Wha...what's wrong?"

Noriko suddenly laughed, "Ohhh Davis, I just had to see you squirm. Of course I'll marry you!"

Davis breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. I was afraid there that..."

She stopped him, "Leave you? Not at all Daisuke Motomiya." She pulled him up, "Here for you, for life."

Everyone clapped really loudly, Kazu and Kenta cheered and hollered, Both Terriermons and Lopmons did a bunny dance, while the girls surrounded themselves around the new engaged couple.

Tim grinned as he turned to Matt, "Looks like there will be 3 more weddings in almost a year!" referring to Takato and Jeri as well as Davis and Noriko and Tai and Sora.

"Maybe."

"Heh?"

"Might be 4" Matt pulled out an engagement ring, "I am planning on giving this to Mimi this weekend for our second anniversary."

Tim couldn't believe it! 4 in a year. Joe and Jun had been married for 2 years now, and were expecting their first child in 6 months. Yolie and Ken had also gotten married a year before. All the Digidestined were getting even closer by marriage. Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly and found Gennai right there, "Tim, I need to talk to you in the Command Chamber. It's of grave importance."

"What about the others?"

"Unfortunately not. I must see you and Arnamon quickly!"

Tim looked up, Zordon was gone too! Something was definitely brewing, Tim nodded, "Okay?"

Down in the Command Chamber was both Zordon and Gennai. Tim was confused as to why Gennai's counterparts weren't with him.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"Timothy, you're the only one who can carry out this mission. There is something coming, but we don't know when, and we must be ready when it does happen." Zordon answered.

"He's right, inside the Digital World, another change is going on. We believe it's going to be slow, but we have to take precautions now."

"What? Why can't we face it now?"

"There are prophecies that have been encoded and even I can't decode them all. Azulongmon has decoded a few of them, but past that, he cannot. Ancient Digital World prophecies talk about how a strange new evil will arise from battles past and a group of children that will arise from an older generation that can decode all the messages. Azulongmon has developed a type of Digivice called a D-Coder. We believe that the marriages of the Digidestined will bring forth that new generation and to be certain we must be ready."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with me and Arnamon?"

Gennai sighed, but did not lose his drumline like composure "Do you remember...DarkAngelicmon?"

Suddenly Tim could hardly breath, _'DarkAngelicmon!'_ He hadn't heard that name since Ryo had come up with the name for the Fallen Angel Digimon. A good friend, with a long storied past, turned evil by the powers of darkness, came back to the light and then turned evil again. He started to feel a tinge of furiousness at the reminder, clenching his fists just as T.K. would do whenever when someone would mess with the powers of darkness. "You don't mean..." He said almost inaudibly.

Zordon spoke, "I'm afraid so ranger. I've been monitoring the Dark World and have discovered some disturbing things occuring."

Gennai took out a box, "Ever since Daemon was finally defeated 4 years ago, we decided it would be wise to start watching for anything that might be trying to penetrate the Digital Worlds parameters. Azulongmon and I have been looking all over to find where the Dark Forces may begin to locate, and recently, we have discovered some odd activity happening on the continent of Cyber."

"You mean Baihumon's region?"

"You know about that?"

"Yeah, Ryo mentioned it to me not too long ago. In fact he talked about it when he, Rika and I were out eating. We were talking about the Digital World for hours. Rika and I were both curious as to what kinds of other places were in the Digital World, more so than Henry and Takato are."

"Ryo is a smart Tamer and Digidestined. I am glad he has provided you with this valuable information." He opened the box, revealing what appeared to be small chips, kind of like a SANDISK memory drive.

Tim picked one out of the box, "Computer chips?"

"Kind of, they are called Spirit Chips and there are 6 different ones, like the crests. You must use your crest power to seal them up in 6 strategic locations Azulongmon and I have already planned out. You must also chose the 3 crests that will unseal each of them when the time comes. Also, these need to be hidden" Gennai pulled out yet another box, this was golden, he opened the lid and revealed 6 digieggs.

Like the Armor Digi-Eggs each one had different designs on them, but they weren't like Armor Digi-Eggs. "With the D-Coders, you must seal them in pedestals located in those 6 locations. In time they will hatch, but they will remain inside the pedestals until the 6 new digidestined unlock them, but to be on the safe side, I'd like you to find a digimon to guard each of these areas."

(Flashback ends)

Tim did exactly that, he hid the digi-eggs found the digimon needed to guard each of the eggs and put Piximon in control of Gennai's orb that contained the D-Coders. If it weren't for Calumon, they'd not have been revived.

Just then WarStrongomon broke him out of his thoughts, "Is everything okay up there?"

"Huh? Oh, just thinking bud." He sighed, "I couldn't help but remember all that happened so long ago. I mean, we haven't seen the other digidestined in so long, sure we had that reunion about 7 years ago, but we really couldn't talk much about the Digital World. That disagreement we all had still burns me up."

"Oh," WarStrongomon growled, "yeah, that..."

After that they were silent for about a couple minutes with just the digital wind blowing through Tim's hair as WarStrongomon continued his flight.

Tim took out his D-Terminal and looked at the map, "Looks like we're about an hour away." He looked ahead to see if he could still see Spritemon, but couldn't, "Where'd Spritemon go?"

"She's here, I can still smell her. Though I think she's almost noticed us a couple times," he whispered.

Tim chuckled, "Forgot Digimon could smell other Digimon." Tim sighed, "WarStrongomon, let me know when we get there." He said as if he was expecting to daydream again, which he did in fact. He thought back to the huge disagreement he and the other Digidestined and Tamers got into not too long before the gates closed on the Digidestined.

(Flashback)

Tim was on the verge of blast mode, "YOU WANT TO WHAT?"

Tai stood his ground, "If the gates closed, we don't think our kids should know about the digi-tal world."

Kazu furrowed his brow, "Are you crazy dude? Seriously, I think you have a screw loose!"

"I hate to say this, but I agree with dorko here! What in the world made you think it would be good to keep secrets from our kids about the Digimon and the Digital World."

"Because Rika, we'd like our kids to be able to live a normal life, it's just as simple as that." Matt countered.

"And with the exception of our parents and a few others, people still really don't know much about the whole Digimon thing."

"You're such a gogglehead! Seriously, I think your brain has taken one too many hits falling off that STUPID motorcycle of yours!"

Kenta surprisingly agreed with Rika, "Yeah, Rika's right. I mean, what is normal anymore? There's bound to be more alien or monster attacks in the future. Look how many Power Rangers are popping up!"

Renamon couldn't believe it, "Unbelievable, they're making sense today"

Kazu gave a two thumbs up, "Can't be wrong all the time!"

"It doesn't matter. We shouldn't tell them, and that's that."

"And then what Tai?"

"Huh? Kari?"

"What will our kids think of us if they do find out and we don't tell them? I won't tell them if you really don't want us to, and T.K. won't either I'm sure, but if our kids go there and find out about us, they'll want to know why we didn't tell them sooner."

"No," they heard Noriko whisper, "We can't tell them. I don't want our kids to know about the pain we went through because of the Digital World. I'm sure Ken agrees with me, right Ken?"

The former Emperor's mouth was slightly ajar at the mention of that, "Well, I..."

Tim was stunned, "I don't believe it! Kari's right, how can we expect them to trust us if we don't tell them everything while we still have the chance?"

T.K. had been silent up till this moment, "I agree, while I won't say anything if you decide it's the best decision Tai, Matt, I still won't think it's right. How can we expect our kids to trust us when they do find out about everything we went through. How can we hide so much of our lives from them? If we do that, there will surely be consequences."

"I...I..." Ken stuttered, "I can't let them know... it would be too much for my future children to know that I was the Digimon Emperor."

"Momentai Ken! Wouldn't it be easier to tell them earlier and avoid a lot of darkness later, I mean sheesh, common sense escape you much? For a genius..."

Henry cut him off before he could say anything else, "Terriermon, that's enough. But he also happens to be right. Digimon are have been part of our daily lives since middle school, I wouldn't think it would be wise to forget about them."

"There's too much to not tell. When I made up Guilmon, I thought at first it was just a game. But now it's real life. Even Yamaki now realizes Digimon are more than just data now."

"Lopmon's my partner! If I ever lost her, I don't know what I'd do. I'd miss them all, especially Terriermon."

"How about you Yolie, you've been quiet this whole time."

"I don't know Hawkmon, I guess, since it wouldn't be right to not tell them, but Ken's also right. Oh I don't know."

Cody, even quieter than the rest, came up with a suggestion, "How about we think about this and meet back here again tonight. If the majority of the digidestined say we won't tell our kids, then we won't, if someone decides to, that's their right. I think it would also be good to let the Tamers choose for themselves, since they're separate from us anyways."

They all agreed to do so and met back that night. The Tamers, including Ryo, would tell their kids. As for the Digidestined all decided that if the gates closed, they wouldn't say anything. Tim refused, "I'm sorry, but I cannot agree to do so. There is too much going on in my life to keep me from telling my kids. Besides, as a Power Ranger, Digidestined and Tamer, I want them to be able to trust me. I hope you understand."

(Flashback ends)

Ever since then, he had hardly gotten to see the other Digidestined. He was there for Takara's birth as well as Daichi and Ryoko's and became each of their godfather. Though he did keep up with Davis, Cody, T.K. and Kari over FB, who kept him updated on new births and what all was going on in their lives. It wasn't too long afterwards that the gates shut on the Digidestined in Japan. Also, despite the Tamers being close, they didn't visit Odaiba much either after Suzie graduated from Odaiba University. Except for Ryo who kept in close contact with Ken. Tim did, get to visit the Tamers a lot, due to being there almost monthly doing Power Ranger work with the Silver Guardians, as asked by Zordon, whom had set up key points around the world, including in West Shinjuku, unlike SPD (Space Patrol Delta) which tended to stay more in New Tech City over in America. Though he did battle alongside Commander Cruger against Grumm a few times and his son was now a part of the storied B Squad Rangers as the SPD Blue rangers, the highest ranking form of Power Rangers in Space Patrol Delta as the A Squad Powers had been officially retired.

Tim got to be in Henry's wedding, who FINALLY had gotten married to Avy, the girl he'd dated and hung out with a lot during their time at Odaiba University. Takato had become quite the artist and redrew his Goggleman comics which became a worldwide phenomenon, while he and Jeri both ran his parent's bakery. They also ended up having 3 kids of their own.

Ryo and Rika had also gotten married and had twins, quite the split combination there. It was also the last time Tim had seen Ken until about 7 years before as they both were part of Ryo's best man group. Rika shocked them all, and decided to go into business and started FoxTailinFashion with Renamon as a top shot, helping to come up with ideas for new FoxCoat designs.

Kazu and Kenta had become West Shinjuku's top hit talk show hosts, BlackWarKazu and MegaMightyKenta! Guardromon and MarineAngemon served as their stooges. They even got Babamon and Jijimon on for backup entertainment. Each one did marry, however and in a surprising twist, Kenta and Catherine got married.

Impmon still had Ai and Mako as his Tamers, but the real story for him was a small business he and Calumon started up, "Impish CatalySweets" with their top flavors being 'Double Impacto Blasts' and 'ShiningDigivolutions'. Much of West Shinjuku now knew about Digimon and interacted with them on almost a daily basis, though no new digimon came to be a human's partner.

_Cyber, Western Hemisphere_

"Tim, we're here," WarStrongomon growled lightly breaking him out of his thoughts.

Tim looked around at the site of the continent of Cyber. Things seemed to be getting darker as they approached where the castle was and no surprise there. The digital moon couldn't even be seen. There was no doubt that the ruler of darkness was here and was definitely planning a lot of chaos.

"Okay," He whispered even more quiet than a whisper, "Follow her in, just stay very silent."

WarStrongomon did so and followed the little mega sprite digimon into the castle. He made sure to keep a distance away from her, but just enough so that he could keep her in his sights.

Meanwhile, Tim looked around the castle and noticed that many of the walls had been broken in, _'This must be from the battle a few days ago when the digidestined came to retrieve their crests.' _He had to wonder whether or not the Dark Lord had known that the weak spots resided in the castle and let the digidestined come into the castle and get the crests and retrieve Gennai. Continuing to look around, he also glanced behind him, and when he did, he noticed someone else entering the vicinity and almost had to keep from gasping allowed, '_DarkAngelicmon!' _His mind yelled. He silently tapped WarStrongomon's back giving him a signal to slow down and that someone was following behind them.

They watched as DarkAngelicmon approached Spritemon, "Well, off to see the Dark One as well I presume." He told the little mega cooly.

Spritemon however, was not as polite, in fact she snapped, "WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP US? We had the digidestined right where we wanted them and all you did was play around with those kids."

"Now Spritemon, patience. We have to see what those kids are made of. Don't get your little wings in a twist. The Digidestined are sure to fall in due time, you saw how vulnerable even the young Motomiya boy was. Even if they all get their Spirit Chips, it's only a matter of time before they heed to the darkness."

"And you would know how?"

"Have you forgotten? I once traveled with Digidestined such as these. Twice in fact. I know how they are, how they function. Each of them has a weak spot and I know how to get each one of them. Many of them have succumb to their weaknesses once before, including each of the children I traveled with and I will make sure it happens completely this time."

"WELL! While you're off playing your little game of manipulative chess, we're actually **trying** to do our jobs! The master isn't going to be too pleased when he finds out YOU let the spirit chip get into the enemies hands!"

DarkAngelicmon chuckled, obviously enjoying this little charade, "Then why didn't you destroy them yourself? You each had a chance to do so, yet you yourselves played around with them a little and hesitated when the time came."

"WHYYYY YOU!..."

Then, just at that moment, Jestermon, BlackWidowmon and Vampiramon appeared from another corridor in the castle and entered into the room that used to be the crest room, "You two going to join us, or you just going to sit there all day chattering?" Jestermon jabbed at them.

"You are right, very well then, let's get this over with," DarkAngelicmon replied as the other digimon entered the room. DarkAngelicmon was the last to enter and as he did, he turned his head behind him as if he were suspecting someone, '_Could have sworn something was following us.' _He frowned. In fact, he had been sensing something the whole way to the crest room and had been looking back periodically to try and see if something was there.

_'Phew! That was too close for comfort.' _Tim breathed hard but silently as he had done so constantly each time the fallen angel Digimon had looked behind him. He had WarStrongomon stand in the way corner of the Crest Room near the exit just in case something happened.

Then what came out of the shadows nearly startled him. Someone, another being stood up from their perched position in front of the room and started walking towards the 4 megas and fallen angel champion. As the being got closer Tim almost gasped out loud as he recognized who it was, _'THE DARK ONE!" _He vaguely remembered back to when he'd first and last seen the dark being It was enough to send quivers down his spine just looking at him.

Immediately, upon his arrival the 4 mega Digimon and the champion each bowed in their respects and stayed bowed. (A/N: Most of the following is segmented from Broken Angel01's Chapter 205: Duty Calls. Please read that in precedence, though both could be read at the same time)

"So, once again all of you have failed me," the Ruler of Darkness hissed, pacing back and forth in front of the four mega digimon and one champion kneeling on the stone floor in front of him. "Daichi Motomiya, their leader, has gained the use of his Spirit Chip, and another ultimate digimon has been born. Do you realize what this means?"

"It's all his fault!" Spritemon squeaked, pointing to the fallen angel kneeling beside her. "What happened on Infinity Mountain was his plan to begin with! He's the one to blame!"

"Silence, fool! I did not ask who was to blame! You've all failed in your own way, including DarkAngelicmon. There are no excuses!"

_ 'No surprise there, that the Ruler of Darkness would even blame DarkAngelicmon.'_

Tim watched the fallen angels' actions. He was obviously enjoying every minute of this. Come to think of it, he remembered that even as Angelicmon he acted like that at times. It was almost like he was playing around, but at the same time, he knew how to manipulate even the environment around him. As the seconds dragged on, Tim could remember even more clearly how their former guide was. Though he still didn't know what that storied past was about, but he was going to be determined to find out.

"But...he...the plan!" Spritemon protested.

"I told you to keep quiet!" the Ruler of Darkness snapped, turning his back on the cowering pixie and crossing his arms over his chest. "When we originally set out to bend the Digidestined to our will, it was important to gain control of their D-Coders to have access to the Spirit Chips. That was the reason why I wanted you to steal the Digivices in the first place. Since then, we've discovered that the D-Coders are useless to us without the Digidestined themselves, and now that we have devised a better way to get our hands on the Spirit Chips, it should have been easy to take that which we desire. Simple, and yet you _still _continue to fail me."

"Forgive us, master," Vampiramon murmured, cowering on Spritemon's left. "You are entirely right. There are no excuses. We had Daichi Motomiya in the palm of our hands and even after he gained the full use of his Spirit Chip, we are still the stronger of our two opposing forces. It should have been easy for us to take the Spirit Chip, but instead we allowed FireDragermon to catch us off guard."

"Indeed, you did," the Ruler of Darkness said bitterly, keeping his back to the female mega. "The Digidestined are weak. You've seen that for yourselves. How easy it is to plunge their hearts into darkness. We needed Daichi to overcome that darkness and he did so magnificently, but even so that does not make him more powerful than us. That Spirit Chip should have been ours. You know what the humans are like. They are surprisingly resilient, but that alone will not save them. They rise up only to fall deeper into despair. It is only a matter of time before the darkness claims them, and when it does...then we shall have our victory."

"Pardon me, your evilness, but if I may intervene?"

"Forget it, angel boy, even the fool knows not to interrupt our master when he's angry," Jestermon hissed softly in his ear, elbowing him in the ribs.

Instead of responding, DarkAngelicmon chose to ignore the court jester kneeling on his right, and tilting his head to the side, he gazed expectantly at the back of his master's head in silence, knowing full well he would be rewarded for his patience.

He was not disappointed.

The Ruler of Darkness turned slowly to face him, and humbly bowing his head, he smiled to himself, pleased with the way things had turned out.

Oh, how he was enjoying this.

"Is there something on your mind, DarkAngelicmon?" the Ruler of Darkness asked pleasantly, regarding him with a mixture of curiosity and resentment.

"Forgive me, your evilness, but though you have every right to be concerned over the incident with the Motomiya boy, not all is lost. Rookie leader, indeed. He may have gotten his Spirit Chip, but that does not make him any less of a target. He might think he's safe now, but truly it's quite the opposite. Now that the Spirit Chip is in his possession, he no longer has a shield to hide behind. His Spirit Chip works. We've seen that for ourselves, which is actually a huge accomplishment for us."

"How so?" BlackWidowmon demanded from Vampiramon's left, forgetting her place.

"Have you forgotten so quickly? We can't bend the Spirit Chips to our will if the Digidestined themselves cannot even get the Spirit Chips to work. In order for our plans to succeed, we _need_ the Digidestined to gain the full use of their Spirit Chips. Their leader has done that, thanks to my careful planning, which means we're half way there, at least as far as the Motomiya boy is concerned. Granted, we did not get a chance to steal his Spirit Chip today, but that does not mean there won't be other opportunities to do so. All the Motomiya boy needs is the right motivation to give up on himself, and once his heart has been plunged into darkness, we will be able to use those dark thoughts to bend his Spirit Chip to our will. I assure you, it's only as matter of time before we have the leader of the Digidestined right where we want him, and where he goes the others will follow, if they don't manage to fall first, that is."

"You are a sentimental fool, DarkAngelicmon, but you are right," the Ruler of Darkness sighed, shaking his head in amusement. "All is not lost, but that does not excuse what happened today. How often do you waste your time keeping the others out of trouble. I do wish you could put that brilliant mind of yours to better use."

"As do I, my lord."

"You already used the Kamiya girl," Vampiramon snarled, grinding her teeth together. "Do you honestly think you can find another excuse to plunge the Motomiya boy's heart into darkness?"

Tim's thoughts drifted away from the conversation at hand for a few moments, making him miss a portion of their conversation. _'Hmm, All he has to do is lose the team that's been built around him and the friendship that he endears with each of them. I have a feeling DarkAngelicmon knows that. Even Davis struggled with those feelings of resentment and lack of confidence at times and I know Ryo and Tai each had some rocky roads in their paths. I know I did and even fell into the trap at different times. Ken seemed to have the worst out of us all and he still does. Do anymore to Takara, it will definitely send Daichi into a tailspin. I have to try and stall this, but how?_

"I am doing no such thing! You neglected your duties and therefore you deserve to be punished!"

"No more than the rest of you," the Ruler of Darkness said harshly, dismissing the female mega's words with a wave of his hand, "but Vampiramon does have a point. Things may have ended differently if you had been there to stop Daichi from getting away with his Spirit Chip. Where were you, my fallen angel, and you'd _better _have a good excuse."

DarkAngelicmon smiled at his master, and leaping lightly to his feet he circled the Ruler of Darkness with a triumphant gleam in his emerald eyes. "I was busy sewing the seeds of destruction."

"Explain, please."

DarkAngelicmon suddenly stopped, and taking his master's hands, he knelt in front of the Ruler of Darkness, his forehead coming to rest against the mysterious digimon's stomach. "I feel tainted."

"So, in other words, you've been in the presence of other angel digimon. Angel digimon who do not work for me."

"It is good to be by your side again, master."

The Ruler of Darkness gently patted his head, but DarkAngelicmon could tell his master's mind was somewhere else. "Angel digimon...you don't mean..."

_No!_

_ So, DarkAngelicmon can still be affected by the light in an intense way. Maybe he can be brought back to the light._

Realizing he'd almost made a mistake, DarkAngelicmon quickly shook his head and said, "No, not him. Angelicmon."

"Angelicmon?"

"Yes, and his celestial companions, but Angelicmon is the one of most notable interest."

"How so?"

DarkAngelicmon quickly pulled away from his master, and turning to face the torches lining the walls, he murmured, "The Takaishi twins. The seeds have been planted and now we must wait for them to take root. When the time comes, I have no doubt their Spirit Chips will be ours. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. I thought Vampiramon and the others would be able to handle the Motomiya boy without me, but obviously I was wrong to put that kind of faith in them."

"We almost had him!" Jestermon protested, chucking a black spear angrily in the fallen angel's direction.

DarkAngelicmon caught it easily in his hands, and throwing it back, he said playfully, "Not close enough, obviously. Despite your failure, though, my conversation with Angelicmon proved to be quite useful."

"So, that's where you were? Consorting with the enemy?" Vampiramon demanded, clearly outraged.

"In a matter of speaking, yes."

"You really are a fool!" BlackWidowmon snorted, shaking her head in disbelief. "Worse even than Jestermon."

"Hey, I resent that!" the fool shouted, leaping to his feet. "When it comes to being the fool, no one is worse than me!"

_"You said it," Spritemon smirked._

"You lie," Vampiramon hissed, tugging angrily on her skirts. "Angelicmon was there. He helped the others fight. I don't doubt you spoke to him, but where did you go after that? If Angelicmon could get back in time to defend the Spirit Chip, why couldn't you?"

_ 'He and Vampiramon are both telling the truth. This is truly getting interesting'_

DarkAngelicmon knew he couldn't deny the female mega's words, so he didn't even try. Instead, he merely turned to his master and said quietly, "She speaks the truth. Where was I then? I made that quite plain already. Sowing the seeds of destruction. Watching and planning. Our moment will come. The Takaishi twins will be yours, my lord."

"You mean _yours_," the Ruler of Darkness laughed softly, beckoning him closer.

"What is it, your evilness?"

"Come here."

DarkAngelicmon hesitated only a moment before joining his master, and placing a hand on his head, the Ruler of Darkness said, "Do not fail me."

"You can be sure I won't. The Spirit Chips are as good as yours."

"If we can even find the rest of them," Spritemon grumbled, making a face.

_ 'You better not'_

DarkAngelicmon didn't like having to agree with Spritemon, but thankfully before he could voice his opinion, the Ruler of Darkness said calmly, "That will be the least of our problems. Persiamon, Phelesmon, if you could please inform my servants here of what you've discovered?"

_ 'NO! They couldn't have found the whereabouts of the spirit chip of compassion. Could they?'_

DarkAngelicmon nearly jumped as both Persiamon and Phelesmon suddenly appeared out of the shadows, and crossing her arms over her chest, the feline digimon said, "While the five of you have been out playing with the Digidestined, we've been spying on Gennai and his allies, much like he's spying on us. We've discovered that the Spirit Chip of Compassion is located on Server."

"And thanks to Gennai we know exactly where it is," Phelesmon smirked.

_'DAGGONE IT! My hiding spot's been compromised! I have to figure something out! It's too late to move it now. The seal can't be broken with my crest alone.'_

"You will be given the details tomorrow morning with your instructions," the Ruler of Darkness added, folding his black-gloved hands together. "Until then, I need some time to think."

_ "And so the plot thickens," Jestermon murmured._

DarkAngelicmon smiled. It was almost as if the court jester could read his mind, and beaming at his companions, he said confidently, "Excellent, the Spirit Chip of Compassion. It appears the young Ichijouji boy is our next target. This should be quite interesting, I believe."

_'Even I don't know that Sam is supposed to get it. What does he know that I don't?'_

"How do you know the Spirit Chip of Compassion belongs to the Emperor's son?" Vampiramon snapped, glaring accusingly at him with her hands on her hips. Forgetting her place, much like DarkAngelicmon himself had earlier, she had jumped to her feet in anger only to be rewarded with an angry hiss from the Ruler of Darkness, which greatly pleased DarkAngelicmon. Apparently he could get away with breaking protocol, but the vampire digimon could not.

"How do I know? It's simple. We have Gennai's words to prove it. The Spirit Chip of Compassion can only belong to either the Ishida boy or the Emperor's son, and out of the two of them, which one do you think would be mostly likely to own the Spirit Chip of Compassion?"

"The fool agrees," Jestermon replied, summoning his black spheres and juggling them lazily above his head. "The Ishida boy is a bit too cold for the Spirit Chip of Compassion, I think."

_ Tim held back a snort, 'HAH! Ryoko cold? On the contrary! Ryoko is just like Matt even if he hates to admit it.'_

"Okay, let's say you're right. Let's say the Spirit Chip of Compassion really does belong to the Emperor's son. How exactly is that going to help us?" BlackWidowmon demanded, shaking her head in disgust. "Do enlighten us, DarkAngelicmon. How exactly do you plan to give the Ichijouji boy a decent chance of claiming his Spirit Chip?"

"How nice of you to ask, BlackWidowmon."

"Huh?"

DarkAngelicmon turned slowly to face his fellow digimon, his back to Persiamon, Phelesmon, and the Ruler of Darkness, and smiling slightly, he said, "That's already been taken care of."

"What do you mean?" Spritemon asked suspiciously.

"Contrary to what you might believe, our young target knows that his father, the famous boy genius, Ken Ichijouji, was the Digimon Emperor."

"What?" Vampiramon shrieked, nearly tripping over her skirts in shock. "Since when?"

"Oh, he has known for quite a while now."

"How?" Jestermon spluttered, his black spheres tumbling to the ground and rolling across the stone floor in different directions.

"Why, I told him of course."

_'Why am I not surprised.'_

"When?" Spritemon demanded, clearly shocked by this sudden turn of events.

"It doesn't matter. The point is he knows, and we can use that to our advantage. As you can imagine, he and his father are at odds at the moment. What more incentive does he need to have a reason to get his Spirit Chip? His father's crest is part of one of the seals protecting the Spirit Chip, which means Ken Ichijouji will have to be present for this search. Our little Emperor won't be able to avoid his father then. Let events play out as they will, and we will have our Spirit Chip."

"What's that supposed to mean?" BlackWidowmon snorted.

"It means we sit back and wait and let the Digidestined, or more precisely, the Ichijouji boy and his father, do all the work for us. Wait and watch, and when the time is right that's when we'll strike."

_ 'PLEEEASE Ken, Sam, stay strong!'_

_"You never cease to amaze me, my faithful servant," the Ruler of Darkness murmured, clearly pleased to have a least one capable underling on his hands. "You will lead the others tomorrow. Do as you see fit."_

"What do you mean, he'll lead?" Vampiramon snapped, glaring at the Ruler of Darkness.

"Know your place, Vampiramon. What it means is that he will lead the operation tomorrow, you will follow. This is your punishment for such a spectacular failure today. I suggest in the future you try to be a bit more diligent in your duties. Now leave me. You and the others are dismissed."

In response to her master's words, Vampiramon stormed out of the former crest room, Jestermon, BlackWidowmon, and Spritemon right on her heels, and watching his fellow companions DarkAngelicmon could do nothing but stare after them in amusement.

With that thought in mind, DarkAngelicmon made to follow after his companions, but before he could take so much as a single step, the Ruler of Darkness caught his arm, forcing him to stop. "You will stay. As you may have already guessed, there is something I need to discuss with you."

_As the rest left, that left only DarkAngelicmon, Tim, Warstrongomon and Phelsemon in the vicinity. _

DarkAngelicmon closed his eyes briefly, doing his best to compose himself, and taking a deep breath he turned to gaze at his master with a neutral expression on his handsome face. "What is it, my lord?"

"What of Lucemon? Has there been any progress?"

"No, my lord. He is a difficult digimon to locate when he does not want to be found. I do not sense him like I used to. He has become...very distant from me."

A lie, but the Ruler of Darkness did not need to know that.

_Tim sneered silently at the mention of Lucemon. He'd heard rumors that Lucemon had come back and was now supposedly on the side of good and even wanting to help the Digidestined. He couldn't believe it for one second. Especially after having visited 2 digitalverses where Lucemon had attempted to conquer once before and not to mention that he was based off of Lucifer in the Bible. Remembering the stories in the Frontier Digidestined's Universe from Bokomon and hearing stories from Takuya and his friends really got to him. Then there was the Xros Wars Universe after hearing stories from Taiki, a young boy whom had fought to save the Digital World from the evil Bagura army. Lucemon had tricked them in one of the zones and had almost succeeded in taking over the entire area. Just the thought of those made him distrust Lucemon all the more, and he was the digidestined of trust after all!_

The Dark one's booming voice broke Tim out of his thoughts once more.

"Phelesmon!" the Ruler of Darkness suddenly called out, snapping his fingers and motioning for the fallen angel digimon to join him. "I must rest now. Please see our comrade out."

"Yes, my lord," Phelesmon murmured, bowing deeply to his master.

DarkAngelicmon allowed the other celestial digimon to take hold of his arm and upon reaching the door, Phelesmon leaned close and whispered fiercely in his ear, "Just you wait, you won't be our master's favorite forever!"

DarkAngelicmon stopped dead in his tracks and turning to glare at his fallen angel companion, he snapped, "No, I won't be!"

And with that, he stormed out the door, leaving Phelesmon to stare after him.

At that action, Tim motioned WarStrongomon to go and follow DarkAngelicmon out. He wanted out of that castle as soon as possible.

_'Finally got good information! Now to get out of this horrible place. This eery darkeness is sending constant shivers down my spine.' _It was a relief to be out of the presence of that Dark One, having to be so quiet for so long was driving him crazy. Sure he'd been accustomed all his life to being shy, silent and mostly self-reserved, but even he talked a lot at times and not being able to make a sound was hard for even a Power Ranger to do.

_DarkAngelicmon_

_ Cyber, Western Hemisphere_

The fallen angel digimon stormed out of the crest room furiously, semi-unaware that he was being followed. _'WHY? Why should I be surrounded by such incompetent fools!' _He ripped out of the castle at full force, and didn't stop until he reached the forest near the castle. Suddenly, he gathered his senses and listened for a minute, taking everything in. For a good minute at least, he felt that he was not alone. Granted, he was around all the other digimon all the time, but this presence was different, one that he thought he recognized and hadn't felt in many years. Finally, he spoke out crisply, yet cautiously so no one else, except for ones that were near could hear him, "Who's there? Show yourself at once." But silence ruled the moment, so he tried a different approach, "If you do not come out now, I will attack, and you WILL be in danger." then he added, "I can hear your breathing," Then with confidence of knowing who, "I know who you are...this is your last chance, Bearer of Trust."


End file.
